The Propel Breakfast Club is an intimate, invitation-only event intended to foster conversation and learning about a variety of relevant Talent Management topics facing Senior HR Professionals and Business Leaders today. Over a cup of coffee, attendees have ample time to network with professional peers in the region, as well as an opportunity to hear from an expert guest speaker from the field before participating in robust group discussions related to the topic.

Previous Events: ​

The start of a new year brings with it an opportunity to reflect on the achievements, challenges and trends of the past year. Our theme for the month of January 2020 was Talent Management Trends and our first breakfast club of the year was a way to reflect on HR trends of 2019 and set the scene for 2020, in conjunction with HR professionals and leaders in the region.​2019 saw an influx of evolutionary innovations in the field of HR like Artificial Intelligence for recruitment and gamified assessments and digitisation of solutions, whilst gradually enhancing the strategic importance of HR in organisations. For the first time in history, the global workforce consists of 5 generations, thus creating a need to move towards a new style of HR that is strategic, flexible, inclusive and development focused. In 2020, regardless of organisation size and industry, talent leaders in the region are focusing on developing their employer brand to successfully attract, select and retain high-potential talent to ensure their organisations thrive and grow. The key challenge in 2020 will be continuing to perform in the present, whilst building for the future. ​

Talent Management Trends in 2020

January 30th 2019

Assessment, AI and the Age of Algorithm

November 21st 2019

We had the pleasure of welcoming the HR Professionals and Business Leaders to our recent Breakfast Event co-hosted with Robert Walters, a leading specialist recruitment agency, to discuss and debate the topic of Assessment, AI and the Age of Algorithm.

Guest speaker Dr. Alan Bourne, CEO and Founder of Sova Assessment, a partner provider to Propel of psychometric assessments, explored what we mean by AI in assessment, its potential benefits and key risks, and factors to consider when including AI-based assessments into your recruitment approach.​The event took place at Propel International's Head Office based in Business Bay, Dubai.

In a joint event co-hosted by Bayzat, a technology company providing insurance and HR solutions, members of the HR community gathered over breakfast to discuss talent assessment and selection challenges specifically facing small and medium sized enterprises.

Director of Global Business and Operations for Propel and featured speaker Lisa Emami facilitated the discussion, which explored why it is so absolutely crucial for SMEs in particular to get hiring right the first time.​​Best practice and research-based assessment and selection approaches were discussed, including scientific and predictive assessment methods, contextualised and simulation-based assessment and development programs, and impactful talent enhancing tools and solutions.

Applicant and Recruiter Perceptions of Online Recruitment

July 11th 2019

SME Challenges in Talent Assessment & Selection

September 26th 2019

It was a pleasure to welcome our guest speaker Nikki Molly, Consultant at Saville Assessment, a partner provider to Propel of psychometric assessments.​​Nikki explored critical factors influencing – and deterring – the highest calibre applicants as they navigate through the recruitment process to the final stages of selection.

​Decision about what the online screening process should include​ are made by recruitment professionals based on the management information they receive and their perceptions of their applicant pool. But are they collecting the right information and are these perceptions accurate? ​

This, as well as other key questions relating to the online screening process, was discussed and debated.​

​We are excited to welcome guest speaker Joe Wilson, International Business Manager with Arctic Shores, a global provider of game-based assessments aimed at delivering meaningful, job relevant insights about people.

​Joe will delve into the science behind game-based assessments and equip participants with a framework to evaluate algorithm-driven methods. ​​​But how effective are game-based assessments and what are the risks? What should be considered before deciding to choose or design a game-based tool in your organisation? Together, we will explore and debate this topic based on our own practical experiences.

​As always there will be also ample time for you to network with professional peers in the region and take part in facilitated group discussions to explore your insights, ideas and challenges faced in the identification of high-potential individuals.

Assessing Potential vs Performance

People Analytics: How Can We Best Use Big Data for Talent Management?

​The first Propel Breakfast Club of 2018 was a huge success, welcoming HR professionals and industry experts from 13 different companies including DAMAC, Careem and Dubai Government. Co-founders Amir Morshed and Martin Adams presented their insights into Big Data, it's challenges and the potential when used effectively.

Presentation Snippet:​We used to think the secret to productivity at work was “skills.” Now, through the use of machine learning, we have found that the secret is also the “behaviors,” “habits,” and “patterns” that highly successful people adopt. Many of these are unconscious by the experts, but can be analyzed and understood by software.

Over the past decade, big data analytics has been revolutionizing the way many companies do business. Chief Marketing Officers track detailed shopping patterns and preferences to predict and inform consumer behavior. Chief Financial Officers use real-time, forward-looking, integrated analytics to better understand different business lines. And now, Chief Human-Resource Officers are starting to deploy predictive talent models that can more effectively—and more rapidly—identify, recruit, develop, and retain the right people.​​

11th February 2017, 8.30am-10.30am​

​The February Propel Breakfast Club welcomed Joy Ajlouny, Co-Founder of Fetchr and Simona Agolini, Project Director at Shell Chemicals who shared their success stories and challenges they overcame on their journey as female leaders as well as how they promote women within ​their organisations.

Key research findings and insights into accelerating female leaders in the workplace were also discussed.

Women in Leadership: How to successfully attract, hire and develop female talent?

Source: 2016 Leanin.Org and McKinsey Women in the Workplace study

Key topics:

What are the barriers to hiring and developing women in the workplace?

How do we overcome existing biases?

What are the success criteria for development programmes tailored to women?

20th October 2016, 8:30am to 10:30am

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Dr Angela Carter, lecturer from the Institute of Work Psychology at Sheffield University Management School; and Mary Stewart Wride, Regional Talent and Organisational Development Manager at HSBC UAE shared their insights on this important topic.

"Buy versus Build" – Developing a robust succession strategy

​ Key questions:​

How should organisations approach Succession Planning?

What proportion of talent do you ‘build’ versus ‘buy'?

How important is Diversity in relation to Succession Planning?

16th August 2016, 8:30am to 10:30am

The first Propel Breakfast Club, hosted Shani-Louise Foad, Head of Leadership and Development at DP World to talk about Happiness in the Workplace.

Happiness; it’s in the headlines, politicians talk about it, foundations and institutes are dedicated to researching it, we even have the Happy Planet Index to measure it worldwide. So why has it attracted so much interest? Happiness has been a topic of interest for centuries, dating back to ancient Greek philosophy, the Dalai Lama published a famous book entitled ‘The Art of Happiness’ back in 1998, but it is in recent years that it has really gained traction, through the science of positive psychology. So how does it count for organisations? The research, primarily stemming from: social, political, economic and neuro-sciences, clearly shows us the impact of an unhappy workforce: low employee engagement manifests as sickness, absenteeism and poor performance, which costs corporations billions of dollars every year.